Joseph Early laid to rest today

Family and close friends have always insisted that former U.S. Rep. Joseph D. Early was just “a regular Worcester guy” who viewed life as “a celebration.”

So, it should not have been a surprise, they said, that the concluding hymn at Mr. Early's funeral Mass this morning was “Joy to the World.”

It was the longtime congressman's favorite song, and, mourners, in saying farewell, robustly joined in the singing of the Christmas classic.

Mr. Early, a longtime champion of blue collar bread and butter issues on Capitol Hill who is credited with planting many of the political seeds that spawned the region's growing medical and bio-technology industries, died at his home on Nov. 9.

Today, hundreds packed Blessed Sacrament Church on Pleasant Street, his parish, to bid adieu to the former College of the Holy Cross hoop star and West Side Democrat, who served in Congress from 1975 to 1993.

The 79-year-old Mr. Early was buried in St. John's Cemetery.

Eleven priests, including two Jesuits from Holy Cross, concelebrated the Mass and the service drew a number of political dignitaries including two former congressmen who served with Mr. Early: Joseph P. Kennedy II, and James Shannon, and former state treasurer Shannon O'Brien.

Monsignor Francis J. Scollen, the homilist at the service, said that Mr. Early, a friend, was especially devoted to his family and that his career was fully focused on serving the public's need.

“Joe Early never forgot where he came from,” said Msgr. Scollen, the pastor of St. Peter's Parish.

In a eulogy, Mr. Early's son, District Atty. Joseph D. Early Jr., said his father never took credit for the many initiatives that he had been involved in. He explained that his father always advised him to let others think that they had done the job because that was the best way to guarantee cooperation.

Pointing out that a double rainbow had appeared over the Athy Funeral Home during his father's wake on Tuesday, Mr. Early said many people had voiced gratitude to him for the congressman's past help.

Mr. Early said his father would have been both happy and embarrassed by the large number of people who attended his funeral.

Congressman Early served from 1963 to 1974 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In his first bid for state representative, he won by a razor-thin one vote.

Years later, he became vice chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and he worked to obtain critical funding for the University of Massachusetts Medical School complex.

Along with others, he lobbied to have the school located in Worcester.

Mr. Early took the old 3rd Congressional seat held by Harold D. Donahue in 1975 after defeating David J. Lionett, the Republican contender.

While in Congress, Mr. Early, a Navy veteran and former high school teacher and coach, was credited with securing major federal funding for a number of area projects including the biotechnology park, Worcester airport, and the city's civic center.

Though viewed by pundits as a lunch pail conservative Democrat, Mr. Early, a supporter of the anti-abortion movement, often found himself on the other end of the political spectrum.

A big booster of education and science research, he opposed, for example, the Reagan administration's tax cuts and the attempts to reduce Social Security benefits.

Mr. Early's son said that his father especially liked the National Institutes of Health because of that agency's work in battling various illnesses.

He said one time, a Republican colleague of Mr. Early's told him that his father was responsible for garnering billions of dollars for the organization.

Congressman Early also sought to end American support of the oppressive military regime in El Salvador and he fought against the development of the controversial MX missile.

He drew high marks from environmentalists and those in the peace movement for his opposition to nuclear power plants and his backing of a bilateral nuclear missile freeze.

Although he scored many legislative successes, the nine-term congressman said on a number of occasions that he was most proud of providing basic constituent services.

He seemed to go out of his way to maintain a low political profile and was once named by Roll Call as one of the “10 most obscure” members of the House.

According to family, Mr. Early, over his congressional career, signed his name to only one bill. And it is believed that he held only one news conference.

In 1992, Mr. Early was one of about two dozen congressmen who got caught up in the House banking scandal.

Though he was never convicted of any wrongdoing, the controversy threw a pall over Mr. Early's political career and he never recovered, losing his re-election bid that year to Shrewsbury Republican Peter I. Blute.

Upon leaving his seat, Mr. Early, who loved singing the Holy Cross fight song and enjoying a beer or two, fully immersed himself in family affairs.

He spent a lot of time with his grandchildren, keeping tabs on report cards and checking on their sports activities.

In 2000, he suffered a stroke, which was considered so bad that he was given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Early's children said that their father, however, refused to quit.

After recovery, he kiddingly told his grandchildren that the resulting droop in his face was due to a pigeon kicking him in the head.

Mr. Early's daughter, Eileen Early Maltais, said her dad grew up in a three decker on Abbott Street and picked up the values of his parents, George and Mary (Lally) Early.

The Earlys, for example, occasionally housed friends who were down on their luck.

Ms. Maltais said her parents instilled in their children the importance of caring for those in need.

She said her father believed that education was the best way for an individual to get out of poverty.

Mr. Early graduated from St. John's High School and attended Holy Cross where he was a star on the Holy Cross basketball team. A guard, he played on the squad that won the National Invitational Tournament in New York City in 1954.

Friends said Mr. Early “bled Crusader purple.”

Mr. Early leaves his wife of 57 years, the former Marilyn Powers and seven children.